


pack your dolls and a sweater

by localspacelesbian



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Childhood, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Sunset Curve, The Boys Are Alive AU, based on seven by taylor swift
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:42:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29520348
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/localspacelesbian/pseuds/localspacelesbian
Summary: while packing to leave his parents' house for good, alex comes across a photo of a boy he hasn't seen in a long timeAlex’s heart filled with something like pride and something like love as he watched his best friend laugh at his joke. He heard the familiar click of his older sister taking a photo and turned to see her already running away before the two boys could catch her.
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson & Alex Mercer & Luke Patterson & Reggie Peters
Comments: 24
Kudos: 128





	pack your dolls and a sweater

Alex drummed his fingers on his dresser as he looked through the drawers. He could only take the essentials. The studio only had so much space, and they had to do this in one trip. He shoved clothes in a black garbage bag, trying not to think about why they were doing this, about ‘Family Dinner’ the night before. Sure, they hadn’t technically kicked him out, but they might as well have.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his bandmates doing the same thing from where they stood in his room. Luke was in the closet. Bobby was pulling stuff out from under and around the bed, but he kept his an eye on the door. Meanwhile, Reggie was digging through the desk.

“Hey, what’s this?”

Alex turned to see what Reggie was looking at. He was picking a photo up off the ground, and when Alex saw it, long-forgotten memories flooded his mind, giving him a feeling akin to emotional whiplash. The picture was of a boy with long brown hair, no older than seven or eight. He wasn’t looking at the camera. He was laughing at something just out of frame.

* * *

_ Alex’s heart filled with something like pride and something like love as he watched his best friend laugh at his joke. He heard the familiar click of his older sister taking a photo and turned to see her already running away before the two boys could catch her. Alex tripped and fell down along the way, but he barely noticed his sister stopping to apologize, instead focusing on the concerned look on Willie’s face as he asked if he was ok. Alex just nodded and took Willie’s hand to help him stand. He heard another click of his sister’s camera. _

_ “Alex! Annie!” His mom called, prompting Alex to immediately drop Willie’s hand, even if he wasn’t quite sure why. “It’s time for dinner!” _

_ “Tomorrow?” Alex asked Willie. As if there was any reason to doubt he would see him then. _

_ Willie nodded, a grin on his face. “Of course. Seeya later, Hot Dog.” _

_ Alex blushed at the nickname (it was embarrassing, ok?), and he knew if he turned to look at Annie, he’d see her rolling his eyes. Instead, he just waved to his friend and then took off running toward the house, challenging his sister to an unspoken race. He heard Willie laughing behind him and almost tripped again. _

_ Even with his head start, Annie still beat him. It wasn’t fair. She had five years and, like, a lot of inches on him. But one day he’d be taller than her, he was sure. Of course, that didn’t stop her from gloating all through dinner. He noticed that later when she showed their parents the pictures she’d taken that day, she didn’t show them the last one. He didn’t ask why. _

_ The next day, as soon as his parents would let him, he escaped his house and found Willie in his backyard. The two boys raced to the edge of the woods behind their houses. This race, Alex won, but it was close. They stood there for a second, grinning like idiots as they caught their breaths. Willie took Alex’s hand again. “Come on. I want to show you something I found yesterday after you left.” Alex was happy to follow him. _

_ They made their way through the trees together and talked about everything that had happened in the whole half a day since they’d seen each other. Eventually, they made it to their destination. A swing hanging from a tree above a creek. _

_ Alex was skeptical. “Is that safe?” _

_ “Of course it is.” _

_ Willie’s enthusiasm was contagious, and Alex couldn’t help but trust him. He grinned back and grabbed the swing. He supposed it felt sturdy enough. Willie had to help him a bit getting onto it and then once he felt secure, he gave him a push. A startled noise escaped him, somewhere between a laugh and a scream, as he flew over the water, hanging onto the rope as tightly as he could. _

_ Alex lost track of how much time they spent out there, swinging, laughing, screaming just because they could. He’d say it was the most fun he’d ever had, but he always felt like that with Willie. Like it was the two of them against the world and it always would be. Like they could do anything as long as they were together. Whether it was sneaking into his sister’s dance lessons or exploring an enchanted forest or becoming pirates or fighting a dragon. Or just swinging across a creek. _

_ Willie was taking a turn on the swing, grinning widely as always. Alex saw his hand start to slip, and it felt like it was happening in slow motion, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Suddenly there was a splash and Willie was in the water. Alex ran to the edge of the creek, and the seconds before Willie’s head popped up felt like hours. _

_ Willie laughed. He almost died, and he was laughing. “Well, are you going to help me up or just keep staring at me?” _

_ “Oh. Right.” Alex could finally breathe again, and he sprung into action. It took them a little while, but eventually, together, they got Willie up on dry land. They ended up on the ground, bodies lying in different directions with their heads next to each other. They were quiet for a minute. Alex had to catch his breath, which didn’t seem fair because he wasn’t even the one who had fallen into the creek. After a while, he broke the silence, his voice soft. “I thought you were going to die.” _

_ “Aw, were you worried about me, Hot Dog?” _

_ “Well, yeah. You’re my best friend.”  _ My only friend _. And Alex had never felt like that before. Like time was passing too slowly and too quickly at the same time, and he didn’t know what to do, and he wanted to cry, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t move. He couldn’t even breathe. He was sure that if Willie had died, he would have too. _

_ Willie softened and reached his hand up to hold Alex’s. “I’m right here. I didn’t die. I’m not going to leave you, Alex.” _

_ “Are you sure?” _

_ “Yeah.”  _

_ He sounded so sure that Alex had to believe him. Because he believed everything Willie said. And breathing became just a little bit easier after that. “We should probably get back before you catch a cold.” _

_ Willie laughed. “Yeah, it’d be pretty lame if I survived that fall just to die from a cold.” _

_ Alex laughed, the last bit of panic leaving his body. They stood up and dusted off their pants. _

_ “By the way, Hot Dog,” Wille said, holding out his hand once more. “You’re my best friend too.” _

_ Alex grinned and took his hand. _

* * *

“Alex?”

Alex shook himself out of the memory and looked up at his friends’ faces, each one varying between concern and confusion.

“Who is that?” Reggie asked.

“He was my friend.”

“That’s it?” Bobby asked.

“Dude, you zoned out for like, a while there,” Luke said.

Alex looked around his room, as it hit him again why they were here. “Can we do this later? I don’t know how much time we have.”

It seemed to hit the others too, and Bobby and Luke quickly turned back to what they were doing. Reggie held out the photo. “What do you want to do with this?”

Alex took it from him and gave it one last look before putting it in his fanny pack, giving Reggie a small smile.

Reggie nodded and turned back to finish packing.

They’d just gotten everything together when they heard the sound of the front door opening. They all froze. Alex knew any of his boys would be willing to fight his parents for him, but he did not want to see that. Or his parents. Possibly ever again. So he gestured toward the window instead. They threw the bags out onto the grass and followed after them with practiced ease.

As Alex slipped through the window, something he’s done a million times before, he was pulled back into his memory of Willie. And the look on his dad’s face when he’d returned home still soaking wet. Alex left his window unlocked that night, knowing it was only a matter of time before his friend showed up and crawled through it. Alex decided that Willie’s house must be haunted. That was why his dad was always mad. They spent all night making plans to run away and be pirates together.

Alex hit the ground and looked up at his boys, smiling softly. Well, it wasn’t exactly what he and Willie had planned all those years ago, but he was finally running away. He almost wished Willie was here with him. At least, he wished he had friends as good as his to run away with now. He couldn’t stand the thought that after Alex had moved across the country, Willie had just been alone with no one but his dad. Not even a ghost to keep him company. Because Alex knew now that ghosts weren’t real. Willie’s house wasn’t haunted, and neither was his. He knew firsthand now what it was like for a parent’s love to be conditional, if it was ever really there in the first place.

Luke raised his eyebrows at him, silently asking if he was ok. He nodded back, and they each grabbed a bag and took off running to where the band van was waiting for them down the block. Alex got there first, but there was no satisfaction in winning this race.

They finally made it back to the studio carrying two pizzas along with all of Alex’s possessions. Because Reggie insisted that situations like this required pizza. Alex didn’t ask what exactly fell under the ‘situations like this’ category.

“So are you going to tell us who that kid in the picture is?” Bobby asked as he set the pizzas down on the coffee table and sat on the couch in front of it.

“Oh yeah. Can I see the picture again?” Luke asked, sitting down next to Bobby and reaching for the pizza.

Alex put his hand on the box to keep it closed. Luke pouted up at him. “Do you want pizza or do you want to see the picture? Cause I’m not letting you get your greasy little fingers all over this picture. It’s the only one I have of him.” The boys all sat back politely, Reggie now on the floor holding out his hand. Alex opened his fanny pack and pulled out the picture. Reggie took it gratefully. “Where’d you even find this?” Alex asked as he sat down next to his friend. “I haven’t seen it in years.”

Reggie shrugged. “Somewhere in the back of your desk I think. It fell out of a notebook or something.” He handed the picture off to Luke who was reaching for it. 

Bobby looked at it over his shoulder. “So who is he?”

“He was my friend.” Luke gave him a look. “Ok, my best friend. Willie. Before I moved out here to California, we were basically inseparable. I didn’t realize it at the time, cause I was just a kid, but I think he was my first crush.”

The other boys all looked up at him. “Aw… that’s cute,” Bobby teased.

Luke pouted. “Wait, I thought I was your first crush.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “I guess you were the first one that I was actually aware of. But I think I had a few crushes before then that I just didn’t realize were crushes at the time cause I didn’t even know that being gay was an option.” He snatched the picture back from Bobby. “And Willie was probably the biggest one.” He looked down at the picture and was hit by more memories of summer nights spent singing and sharing secrets and braiding hair. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought about him in years until I saw this picture again. But I think I loved him. I think a part of me still does.” He smiled sadly. “But I’ll probably never see him again, so.” He shrugged and put the picture and the memories back in his fanny pack, missing the look the boys shared as he did. He leaned forward to open the pizza box on top and take the first piece. “Anyway,” he cleared his throat, “Do you think we’d be able to fit a bed in here, or am I going to have to sleep on that shitty couch Luke found on the street?”

Luke gave him an offended look. “Hey, I thought you liked this couch.”

Alex found himself walking down Hollywood Boulevard. He had a couple hours to kill between soundcheck and their gig that night, and he decided he needed some air. They’d had gigs before, but nothing this big. Luke was hoping it would be the one to finally show his parents that their band could actually  _ be _ something. Alex didn’t have any similar hopes of reconciliation with his parents. Still, nerves were high as he thought about the performance that night. His mind was racing, and he wasn’t really paying much attention to where he was going.

That’s when something, or rather some _ one _ , slammed into him, knocking him to the ground.

“Dude, you dinged my board!”

“Your board? Dude, you ran me over! What? Did you think you’d just go right through me or-” But any further protests died in Alex’s throat as he looked up at the person who had run into him. His first thought was, ‘ _ Cute boy! _ ’ But there was also something familiar about them. From their face to the way they stood. They pulled off their helmet, and the world seemed to move in slow motion as they flipped their long hair to the back of their head. Then suddenly their hand was in front of Alex’s face, offering to help him up.

“Sorry, man.” They apologized as he took it and stood up. “I didn’t see you there.”

That’s when it clicked. It had been ten years, and everything and nothing had changed. “Willie?”


End file.
